Rights of School Students with Disabilities: S8842-A Scarcella-Spanton, et al / A9385-A Carroll, et al

MEMORANDUM OF SUPPORT

S8842-a Scarcella-Spanton, et al / A9385-a Carroll, et al
Maintains and protects due process rights of parents of nonpublic school students with disabilities

The New York State Board of Regents and State Education Department have twice advanced a change in regulations to take away critically important rights from Catholic school parents of children with special needs – while keeping these rights in place for public school families. Specifically, the proposal would prohibit Catholic and other private school parents from seeking an “impartial hearing” when they challenge the implementation of special education services provided to their child by the local public school district. The Regents proposal, which is poised to be adopted without any further notice, would have an immediate and devastating impact on families’ most fragile children. This legislation is needed to prevent the Regents’ action by clarifying the state statute and reinforcing the long-standing legal assurance that all students with disabilities are entitled to the same level of services regardless of whether they are enrolled in a public or nonpublic school.

Section 3602-c requires Individual Education Services Plans (IESPs) for students enrolled in nonpublic schools to be developed “in the same manner and with the same contents” as Individual Education Programs (IEPs) for students attending public schools. This provision is commonly referred to as “dual enrollment” and has been relied upon in serving thousands of students in New York’s nonpublic schools long before the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) was enacted. Moreover, some 20 years of decisions by the state and federal courts, State Review Officers (SROs), and Independent Hearing Officers (IHOs) have supported these parents’ rights to challenge deficiencies in their children’s services just as if their children attended a public school.

Impartial hearings have proven essential in ensuring that children get the special education services they need and to which they are entitled under state law. Denying private school families this right while allowing it for public school parents creates a double standard which is clearly unfair, unjust, and unacceptable.

This legislation is necessary to keep these critical services available to all families and the New York State Catholic Conference urges its immediate enactment.